Golad
by DinerGuy
Summary: It was dark and cold, but that was nothing new. He'd gotten used to this dank, unforgiving place after the first few weeks, as much as anyone could get used to a place like Golad Prison.


_I was thinking about some Terra Nova related things the other day and realized that we never got to see anything of what happened to the Shannons between that first scene of the pilot and the part where Elizabeth bribes a guard to see her husband (and get him the necessary tools to sneak out of Golad Prison)._

_Disclaimer (because I don't want to get carted off to Golad myself, or wherever it is they'd throw me if I pretended to own the show): Terra Nova and all of its characters and situations are not mine. No profit is being made from this and no copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

It was dark and cold, but that was nothing new. He'd gotten used to this dank, unforgiving place after the first few weeks, as much as anyone could get used to a place like Golad Prison.

He had a solitary cell - closet was more like it - but every day, the prisoners were all herded from their cells and forced into a communal room for the intended purpose of a small amount of exercise. Except the only exercise that ever seemed to occur was on the part of the larger, more violent prisoners who expended some of their anger at being locked up on the weaker residents of Golad.

The guards never seemed to care what went on between the prisoners, unless it was something related to escaping or contraband - although for the right price, they could be silenced. And so the parts of Jim's days that were not spent inside of his small cell were spent attempting to stay as much intact as possible, which was a lot easier said than done.

He knew his fair share of fighting moves and was by no means small or weak, and so he might have gotten by fairly unscathed. However, being a former cop put him at the top of the list of those targeted once the guards locked everyone in the large room and went on their own breaks. Jim had put some of the other prisoners in jail before he himself was arrested and sentenced, and they were not about to let him forget it. Once word got around that he had been on the side of the law until his imprisonment, he found himself having to watch his back continually.

More than once, he had to be dragged back to his cell by the guards after the "exercise" hour was up. Many times, he had spent days curled up in pain in the corner of his cell, trying to focus on the memories of his family in an effort to forget his surroundings.

They never came to see him, although he knew it had nothing to do with their not wanting to. He knew the terms of his imprisonment; because he had broken the law regarding family, he would not be allowed any visitors for the entirety of his six year stay. But he had their memories, and when things got too bad, he would shut his eyes and imagine what they might be doing at that moment.

He did his best to keep his thoughts of them only in happy territory, but there were times when he couldn't help but wonder what they thought of him now. Elisabeth was surely fighting for him; as he had been led from the courtroom after his trial, she had promised him she would not stop until she had exhausted every resource available. And he knew his wife. She was a fighter, his Elisabeth, a beautiful, strong woman who very nearly possessed more determination than he did sometimes. Being away from her hurt him more deeply than any of the other things he suffered in prison.

And being away from his kids hurt as well. Josh was the man of the house now, and Jim knew he could count on his son to take care of the girls. Josh was responsible and would take care of the rest of the family as best he could. Jim tried his best to dwell on the happy memories he had of his son, of the times they had played games together or the father-son talks they'd had, but there was a lot of time to think and sometimes his thoughts brought up the last images he had of Josh. His son had kept a stoic expression as they had said their good-byes, but Jim had seen the anger and bitterness in his eyes. Josh held his father responsible for what had happened, and Jim could only hope he would still have a chance with his boy when he finally was released.

And then there were his daughters… His last memory of Maddy was her tear-stained cheeks, her pleading expression as she was forced to sit helplessly by as her dad was carted off to jail. She was as strong as her mother, and Jim knew she would make it through all right.

Zoe… his little Zoe. She was the reason he was here, but she was worth every minute he had to spend in Golad Prison. She had been too young to fully understand what was happening, to know that her daddy was in trouble because she had been born, but she had known something was wrong. Jim could still picture her clinging to Elisabeth's arm, her eyes full of confusion. He could remember her little voice - oh such a sweet little voice - asking Mommy what was wrong. He tried to keep himself from wondering if she would even remember him when he got out. Elisabeth would surely show her pictures and tell her stories… but would she really remember him once he rejoined their family? Or would her memories simply be those fabricated from bedtime stories?

He had been counting the days as best as he could, but time passed so slowly and irregularly inside the prison. No outside light could be seen at all - even if there was any outside light to be seen anyway. The air in his cell was just as bad as the air on the outside, and no one in the prison seemed to think enough of the prisoners to filter their air. For that matter, no one even thought enough of them to provide rebreathers, and Jim knew his lungs were suffering damage. He had to tell himself he would make it through, because he had already seen so many other fellow prisoners be carted out dead from the noxious air they were forced to breathe. The well-connected occupants somehow had their own breathing devices, but the little people had nothing to shield their lungs but whatever pieces of clothing they could wrap around their faces.

Somewhere along the line, he was fairly certain he had missed scratching out a tally mark on his wall, but he was fairly certain he still had four years left in the hell hole he currently called home. He just had to hang on until then, with the memories of his family to keep him company.

He heard footsteps outside his cell and groaned inwardly. He could only hope that somehow, he would manage to escape the community hour with only a few bruises and no broken ribs or other appendages. But then the guard's voice made him pause. It wasn't barking at him, demanding he get to his feet. No… this guard was telling someone they had paid for five minutes.

Jim sighed and sat back. Some lucky prisoner was getting a visitor. He didn't expect it would be anyone he knew; Elisabeth had to keep a low profile. They had the money, with her being a doctor, but they were also being watched closely. After all, his whole family had participated in the population violation; the officials were not going to reward that behavior.

But then, suddenly, as if he had officially gone crazy and was hearing things, it was her voice outside his cell. His Elisabeth! Jim quickly scrambled to his feet and looked out, his eyes taking in something he had never thought he'd see this soon.

He put up a hand, and she touched it. The feeling of her skin on his after two long years was a dream come true. She was still as beautiful as always, her worried eyes looking him over. Her doctor's gaze was assessing him for any damage, and Jim quickly assured her he was fine. All he wanted to do was stand there and watch her for the next five minutes.

This one moment could last him forever.


End file.
